Last Dance!
by DarkDaughter1318
Summary: Alternate Ending to Episode 3X14. Elena goes and finds Damon to apologize for her harsh words at the ball.


When I went home, I couldn't help but feel horrible about what I'd said to Damon. I hadn't meant it the way he'd taken it, and I knew better than to say something like that to him. I knew how he felt about me, and knew how little things I said could shatter him. I felt like such an idiot.

"You going to be okay?" Stefan asked before he left. I nodded once. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to anyone. He met my eyes for a second, before nodding. "What happened with Damon and Kol?"

"Damon, being self-destructive." I said, my voice clipped. He stared at me for a second.

"You looked amazing tonight." He murmured.

"Will you just go, please? I'm not in the mood to chat, Stefan." He nodded once.

"Goodnight Elena." He said, walking out. I slammed the door behind him. I hadn't meant to be ill-tempered with him, but I couldn't help it. I had so much weighting on me right now, it was crushing me. I'd looked Elijah in the eye and lied to him tonight. He was one of the few men I could trust, and I was going to get him killed. I was horrible. Out of all of the originals, he was the most human, the most like us, and I was about let him die. Then, I went and said shit that I didn't mean. I didn't know if I'd ever be able to make up for what I'd said to him. He was already ill-tempered at me for letting his brother break his neck. I doubt saying what I did made it any better. I sat there for a second, debating on what I wanted to do, and what I needed to do. What I wanted to do was to go upstairs, and get out of this dress, and get a long hot shower and go to sleep, but what I needed to do was go to Damon and apologize for what I'd said. I grabbed my keys, and headed out to my car. The whole way there, I was thinking in my head of what I should say, how I should apologize, but I came up blank. I didn't know if there was really anything I could say to make it better. Damon loving me has kept me alive this long. When I reached the boarding house, I got out, heading to the door. I took a deep breath, before walking in and going straight for the parlor. It was where he kept his liquor, so I knew that was where he'd be. When I walked in, he had a glass of whiskey in hand, leaning against the fireplace, staring into the flames.

"Didn't anyone teach you to knock?" He asked, harshly.

"My name is on the title of this house. I can come and go as I please."

"Touché." He said. He never turned around. I took a few steps into the room, and stopped. "Stefan take you home?"

"Yes." I said, simply. He turned around and downed the rest of the glass, before walking to the table and pouring another drink. "Damon…" I started.

"I don't really wanna hear it, Elena."

"You know I didn't mean that." I said, taking a few steps closer.

"I don't know what to believe anymore." He said, simply.

"Damon… You've got to realize, I'm grown. You've got to let me make my own decisions."

"You're decisions will get you killed." He growled.

"You jump to conclusions too quickly."

"Losing you isn't a chance I'm willing to take." He said, sharply.

"Damon, you can't keep me locked up somewhere, where I'll never be in danger. I can't wear these knee pads, and helmet forever. You've got to realize that I'm going to do what I think is right. If I had to do it behind your back, then so be it." I said.

"You'll just have Stefan break my neck again, so you'll get your chance, huh? Since he's so on board with the whole 'suicide mission' you seem to be on." He snarled.

"I'm not on a suicide mission. I knew I wasn't in danger."

"How?" He asked.

"I knew she wouldn't kill me because that would piss Klaus off, and it would screw up that whole family peace thing they've got going. I wasn't in danger at that ball. None of us were."

"Matt was." He growled.

"Because Kol and the rest of them are vengeful. There brother staked them, and carried them around for thousands of years, and their mother came back only to forgive him instead of punish him. They're pissed." I explained.

"You could have been killed tonight."

"But I wasn't. That counts for something." I said.

"But that isn't a risk I'm willing to take every time you want to be the hero, Elena." He said.

"I wasn't being the hero, Damon. I was finding out what the hell she wanted, and I knew you would stand in my way."

"Of course I would have. It was dangerous." He said. I shook my head and ran a hand through my hair. He was drunk, and arguing with him was pointless. "Maybe Stefan's right. Maybe I care too damn much, maybe I'm letting my emotions get in the way. I'll just shut them off like he did, and then we won't have to worry about it anymore. I'll go back to the old Damon, the monster that everyone hated."

"Damon, stop… Don't talk like that." I said.

"I'm letting my humanity get in the way. Katherine was right when she said love is a vampire's greatest weakness." He trailed on and on, rambling mostly to himself. "Turning it all off seems like the only-." I walked over to him, and took his face in my hands.

"Damon Salvatore, stop it. I don't need you to turn anything off. This is the Damon that's my best friend, my protector, but you've got to give me some slack on this leash. I can't be by your side all the time, and you can't always protect me. There are things even you can't protect me from." I said. I watched as pain flashed through his eyes.

"I care too much. I love you too much, and it gets in the way."

"No it doesn't, because I love you too." I said, the worlds rushing out of me. I watched as a sparkle passed through his eye, replacing the pain that had been there only moments ago. I looked down. "I'm sorry I said what I did. I was being impulsive, and you weren't listening to me, and I needed you off my back. The way it came out, wasn't what I was expecting."

"You said…You said that-." I cut him off, knowing what it was he was trying to grasp.

"Yes, I said that I loved you… because I do." I said.

"And why are you telling me this now, after you said that me loving you too much was a problem?" He asked.

"Because I knew then only way to fully make up for what I said, is to prove why it isn't a problem. I love that you love me, despite everything I am. All the flaws, the-." He cut me off with a shake of his head.

"There are no flaws, Elena. You are perfection." He whispered, placing a hand on the side of my face.

"You're wrong."

"I'm not. You are everything that is beautiful in the world. When I look at you, I don't see some human girl. I see everything I want to be in your eyes. I want to be good for you, Elena. I want to be what you want me to be. You don't know how hard I try." He told me. I placed a finger to his lips.

"You don't have you don't have to be anything for me. Stefan hid who he really was from me. Don't try to conform into what you think I want. I told you that night in your bed, I like you now, just the way you are." I whispered. "I've seen every side of you, Damon. I've seen you when you're sweet, when you're compassionate, when you're angry, when your upset, when your dying inside but you won't let anybody see it. I've seen it all, and through the midst of all of that, I still love you." I murmured.

"I don't understand how." He said, trying to turn away from me. I grabbed his face, forcing him to look at me.

"Because you are all I need, Damon. You balance me. Everything you do, whether good, bad or indifferent defines you and me and what we've worked so hard for." I told him.

"But Stefan, what about-." I cut him off.

"He's made his choice terribly clear." I said, harshly.

"He still loves you. He told me after our dinner with Klaus and Elijah." He said. I took a deep breath. Damon looked away at my hesitance. He was scared of what my next words would be. So was I because I knew I actually meant them.

"I don't love him like I love you." I whispered. I pulled his face up to meet his gaze. "He gave up on me. You never have. Granted, he may trust my decisions a little bit more than you, but you're always here when I need someone to fall back on. I know you're never too far away."

"I promised I'd never leave you again." He mumbled, touching my face.

"And you haven't."

"And I won't ever." He said. I just nodded.

"I know you won't." I whispered. He looked down at me, still in my ball gown. He smiled.

"You look heart-breakingly beautiful."

"You said something like that earlier." I told him. He smirked at me.

"I know." He said, shrugging. "Regardless, you should know how amazing you look. When you walked into that room, no matter how mad I was that you were there… you took my breath away." I felt a light flush come to my face. He took a step away from me, and offered me a hand. "Miss Gilbert, would you do me the honor of dancing with me?"

"There's no music." I told him. He walked over to the table, and picked up a remote, pressing a button, and smiling at me.

"How about now?" He asked, bowing and extending his hand. I placed mine in his, and allowed him to whirl me out into the middle of the parlor, and wrap an arm around my waist, before we started swaying to the soft music that filled the room.

"This is the music you listen to?"

"When I need to wind down, yes it is. It also just happens to be perfect for slow dancing." He said, smirking.

"Why do I have a feeling you planned this?" I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly. He chuckled.

"I didn't know you were going to show up here and beg for my forgiveness." He teased.

"I most certainly did not beg." I snapped, smirking. He shook his head at me, before laying his forehead against mine. We swayed back and forth to the music before it finally stopped, and the boarding house went dead silent. I was lost in the depths of his blue eyes, seeing everything he was feeling running through them like a raging river.

"I want to kiss you again." He whispered softly, moving a piece of hair out of my face. I didn't move, or speak. I just continued to stare at the beauty that he was. He leaned forward a little bit, and gave me a shy smile. "Is it right yet?"

"You said yourself it was." I whispered. I smiled. "Kiss me, Damon." He took my face in his hands, and pressed the sweetest kiss to my lips. He pulled back and laid his forehead against mine once again.  
>"I love you Elena Gilbert."<p>

"I love you too, Damon Salvatore." I replied simply, without hesitation. He smiled and leaned back in, pressing his lips back to mine, sharing a kiss that was even more passionate than the one we'd shared on my front porch. It was a moment full of such raw beauty; it made goosebumps rise on my skin. His thumbs rubbed patterns on my cheeks as our lips moved in perfect harmony.


End file.
